


Eclipsed

by DebbieF



Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers for Through a Glass Darkly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:05:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3425570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DebbieF/pseuds/DebbieF
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This came about from the episode Through a Glass Darkly.<br/>But, okay, I've really twisted this story around. As you will find out when you have read it. So there are only minor spoilers in it for Marmion.</p><p>++++</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eclipsed

“Why do we have to scout this observatory out?” Porthos griped, pulling a comical face at d’Artagnan and Aramis, as the latter two laughed at him.

“To make sure it will be safe for the king and his family,” Athos explained for the umpteenth time to his friend.

“Plus the entourage that will be accompanying them,” Aramis added with a quick grin.

“An impressive feat to transform an old, derelict fort in this manner the way Marmion has,” d’Artagnan commented as they arrived at the observatory. “I look forward to seeing my first solar eclipse here when we come back with the king.”

Grinning, Porthos extended his arms wide after they all dismounted. “Eh, whelp, what cha’ want to wager that the eclipse won’t happin’ on time?”

Slapping the huge Musketeer on the back, d’Artagnan sent Aramis an amused look. “I think I’ll save my money, thank you very much.” Then watching Athos smile at him, d’Artagnan winked. “This should be fun.”

++++

“Welcome, gentlemen,” one of Marmion’s men greeted the Musketeers pleasantly as he ushered them through the great doors. “We weren’t expecting you for another hour but please come in.”

“I promise we will not be underfoot for very long,” Athos dipped his head.

“You may move freely about until you are satisfied the premises are quite safe for the king’s visit,” the man bowed, turned around and left the four men in the main area of the observatory.

Noting an odd expression cross d’Artagnan’s youthful face, Porthos nudged the lad in the shoulder. “Somethin’ botherin’ ya?”

“Ummm, not completely sure,” d’Artagnan’s face was disturbed as he rubbed the back of his neck. “For a moment there it felt as if someone walked over my grave.”

“Oh wonderful, just what I want ta hear,” Porthos reached out to ruffle the youngster’s hair affectionately. “Just in case keep your eyes open, whelp.”

“Always,” d’Artagnan whispered as he and the others split up to look around.

++++

*Thirty minutes later - the game began*

The inseparables met once more where they had started, in the observatory. But d’Artagnan was nowhere to be seen. They called out for their youngest to no avail.

“Maybe he got lost,” Aramis suggested and then wished he’d kept his mouth shut as Athos glowered at him.

“Gentlemen,” came a voice from behind the Musketeers, making all three men instantly whirl around to peer into a darkened corner where a slim, blond-haired man appeared.

“I am Marmion,” he smiled in greeting, bowing slightly. He wore a colorful, long flowing robe to add to his persona as a mystical astronomer.

“I am Athos and these are my comrades Aramis and Porthos.”

“A pleasure,” Marmion nodded as he noticed the size of the dark-skinned one.

“Our younger brother d’Artagnan is here with us as well,” Athos cleared his throat. “I am embarrassed to say we believe him to be lost in your observatory somewhere,” he admitted reluctantly.

“Not lost,” Marmion held out a hand as a door slowly opened and another man shoved d’Artagnan through it so hard that the boy landed on his knees in front of the other Musketeers, “my prisoner.”

The inseparables saw the livid bruise on their young one’s face and unsheathed their swords prepared to fight, especially since d’Artagnan seemed to be Marmion’s target.

“That’s not how the game is played,” Marmion smirked as he walked over to where d’Artagnan was valiantly trying to stay upright. Marmion’s man held a wicked looking knife to the boy’s back, taunting the lad with it every so often.

The spectacular bruising on d’Artagnan’s right temple made Aramis winced in sympathy, knowing that had to have hurt. The lad wouldn’t have given up without a fight. Seeing how the pup’s wrists were bound, Aramis wasn’t sure if he could depend on d’Artagnan to free himself. So he prayed they could get their youngest out of this without d'Artagnan's blood being shed. 

“We aren’t up for playing games,” Porthos growled, ready to rip out Marmion’s throat if he dared to hurt their pup further.

“Unfortunately I am,” with a nod at his man, d’Artagnan was hauled roughly to his feet. The youngster swayed unsteadily until the man guarding him grabbed his arm. Marmion then tossed a single coin in the air and waited for it to land in his palm. “Heads or tails?”

“Without understanding your rules I decline to answer,” Athos glared at the man, concern about d’Artagnan over road everything else. Their young one did not look well to him. That knock to his head did d’Artagnan no favors, as he could see the lad fighting to remain coherent.

“Wise man,” Marmion studied them all and made a decision. “Still you must play the game.” Glancing behind him, five of his men came out of the shadows with pistols aimed at the inseparables. Separating them, two took Aramis up to the balcony and the other two disappeared with Porthos through another door. Leaving one armed man behind as he leveled his pistol at Athos.

“Why don’t you let the boy go!” Aramis shouted down below to their captor. “What has he or any of us ever done to you to deserve this treatment?”

Looking up at the balcony, Marmion raised a hand. One of his servants attacked Aramis before the Musketeer had a chance to react. As the man gave Aramis a mighty shove, the cavalier flew out through the glass window. Shards of the remaining glass scattered in broken pieces all over the floor.

“NO! ARAMIS!” d’Artagnan’s heartbroken cry echoed in the shocked silence. He felt like he was in a horrible nightmare. He knew Aramis couldn’t have survived such a great fall. His quiet sobs were matched by Athos’s hitched breathing.

“You are a dead man, Marmion,” Athos spat. “You just don’t know it yet.” Facing the deranged man, Athos now feared greatly for d’Artagnan’s life. “What do you want from us?”

“It is not I that will determine whether you live or die but... fate.”

“You’re crazy,” d’Artagnan uttered with conviction, receiving a blow to the back of his head from the man guarding him.

Smiling down at d’Artagnan, Marmion touched the younger man’s shoulder lightly. “Musketeers were the reason I lost my entire family when the plague hit my village. We were quarantined but were never left any food to see us through,” Marmion’s lips tightened fractionally. “Have you any idea of what it’s like to choose your wife over your son? Who to feed the few scraps of food you could gather?” he snorted. “Of course not!” 

Marmion reached out and grabbed d’Artagnan by his long hair, pulling the boy’s neck back so that his throat was laid bare to the large knife he had removed from his man’s hand. “I watched them all die one by one because you Musketeers,” he sneered, “couldn’t be bothered to leave us any food.”

“You cannot blame all of us for what happened surely?” Athos felt for the man’s pain but this was not the way to deal with it. If Marmion’s knife got any closer to the lad Athos would have to act fast, despite a gun being trained on his own back.

“Once more I will toss the coin and you will let fate decide if this boy lives or dies.”

“Athos,” d’Artagnan silently sent his brother a message that everything would be all right, not to worry about him.

“If I have to wait any longer d’Artagnan might get his throat slit anyway,” Marmion snapped impatiently.

“I’m thinking,” Athos glared at him, not knowing the correct way to proceed without endangering d’Artagnan’s life further.

“Think faster, because you have just run out of time,” Marmion tossed the coin up.

Watching the coin flip into the air, Athos held his breath and prayed. When it landed back into Marmion’s hand, he observed d’Artagnan simply smile back at Athos with all the faith in the world. Damn the boy for thinking he could conjure up miracles!

“Heads or tails,” Marmion asked politely, noticing the older Musketeer was sweating bullets at this point.

His mind working furiously for some brilliant way out of this fine mess, Athos was taken by complete surprise when musket fire took out two men on the balcony, leaving Athos two other servants to deal with.

As more men came running to their master's aid, Aramis made swift work of dispatching them. He could see from his vantage point Athos swiftly dealing out his own brand of justice to the remaining men on ground level.

Unfortunately that left Marmion who held on tightly to d’Artagnan. His knife was set against the tender skin of the boy’s throat, nicking the skin and drawing blood.

“Nice to see you, Aramis,” d’Artagnan grinned up at his older brother. “It’s pretty hard to kill you isn’t it?”

“That’s awfully cheeky coming from someone in your position,” Aramis chortled, attempting to make light of their situation.

“Yeah, whelp, you need ta talk better to your elders,” Porthos laughed as he joined in the fray.

“Porthos! You got away!” D’Artagnan then looked at Athos and winked. He felt better now that all of his brothers were together in one spot.

“Takes more than two little men to overpower me, brat,” Porthos waved down at the younger man from his position on the balcony.

He felt better seeing his two comrades relatively unharmed, but d’Artagnan wasn’t out of the woods yet. Facing the mad astronomer, Athos took measured steps toward Marmion. “LET… HIM… GO!” Athos bit out, clenching and unclenching one hand while the other gripped the pommel of his rapier tightly.

“SOMEONE MUST PLAY MY GAME!” Marmion announced wildly, his eyes darting around the room.

“THEN FLIP YOUR DAMN COIN & BE DONE WITH THIS!” Athos shouted back. He felt they were not gaining any ground and d'Artagan was still in jeopardy from that knife.

“I don’t like the way Marmion’s hand's shakin’,” Porthos spoke low to Aramis. “Ifin’ he decides not ta kill our petite fre’re, he could still accidentally cut em’.”

“Just wait a minute, mon ami,” Aramis told his impatient friend. “I have an idea.”

As soon as the coin was tossed into the air once more, a musket ball tore through it, deflecting its trajectory to land harmlessly on the floor by Marmion's feet as the astronomer screamed in anger. 

Porthos had raced downstairs at the same time and just managed to knock Marmion for a loop, thus releasing d’Artagnan from the crazed man. Kicking the knife that laid on the floor away from the boy, Porthos then picked Marmion up and found some rope to tie him with.

Unbinding d’Artagnan’s wrists, Athos’s eyes skimmed over the lad’s features making sure the younger man was not hurt too badly. The knock to the boy's skull worried Athos, but d'Artagnan seemed more alert now than he had earlier. “Aramis!” he called out. “You may come down now!”

“I’m fine, Athos,” d’Artagnan winced at his chafed wrists. “I will admit to being taken off guard when I was checking out the place,” he shrugged. “In that I apologize for being captured so easily.”

“All of us were fooled, d’Artagnan,” Porthos hugged their young one to his side.

“Is d’Artagnan all right?” Aramis glanced at the boy with sharp eyes when he joined them.

“Some of your miracle salve on my wrists should do the trick.” He grimaced at Aramis as his friend teased d’Artagnan’s hair with careless fingers.

“We thought you lost from us,” Athos said as emotion laced his voice. He reached out to grip Aramis’s forearm in a strong hold of brotherhood.

“God watched out for me,” crossing himself Aramis then winced and rolled his shoulders. “I believe I could do with a good massage from Madame Giscard’s clever hands.”

“I’ll tend to those cuts on your face for you,” d’Artagnan offered eagerly seeing them covering Aramis’s handsome features. “You might scare Madame Giscard off if you produce yourself to her as you are now.”

A small huff of laughter escaped Aramis at the boy’s jest.

“What do we do with em’?” Porthos also felt for the man’s loss which probably made him lose his mind, but if it had cost him his brother’s lives Porthos would have found a way to kill Marmion with his bare hands.

“Take him to Captain Treville first and see how he wants to handle this,” Athos replied.

“Who wants to be the one to disappoint King Louis that he won’t be gettin’ to see the solar eclipse from this fancy observatory?” Porthos stared at each of his brothers until his dark eyes latched onto d’Artagnan’s last.

“I’m in the king’s bad books as it is after our last unexpected outing,” d’Artagnan referred to the time when he and King Louis had been kidnapped to become galley slaves for Spain. “Count me out.”

“Since Treville is no longer our captain, I assume the responsibility falls to me,” Athos announced, not at all happy about being the one to inform the king that Marmion tried to execute them. He could well imagine Rochefort spinning it around to make it seem like the Musketeers had been in the wrong. Some days you couldn’t catch a break. “Let us leave this place behind us. After we get back to the garrison I’ll send Gaspard and a few other men back here to remove the bodies of the dead.”

Walking beside d’Artagnan, Athos reached out to place a hand at the nape of the boy’s neck, squeezing it gently. “I am sorry you won’t get to see the eclipse in such a spectacular setting.”

Leaning into his mentor’s touch, d’Artagnan smiled shyly. “It’s all right. We can watch it in the normal manner without worries of losing our lives.”

“From where do you wish to view it?” Athos saw a mischievous gleam in the brat’s brown eyes.

“Let’s flip a coin for it.”

The End


End file.
